Greetings fellow Vipassanators, I'm writing this post in collaboration with my partner Hannah Joy. Throughout our Vipassana journeys, we both have been inspired to deepen our practice via the sit-serve program and leadership roles within the organization. During our experiences, we too have encountered some challenges and have come to develop some of the same …
Author: Serial Vipassanator
Set your mind to it.
Following is a line from the 1981 Hindi movie Umrao Jaan, from the song Dil Cheez Kya Hai. It's one of my favorite quotes. मुश्किल नहीं है कुछ भी अगर ठान लीजिये। Pronounced: Mushkil nahi hai kuchh bhi agar thaan lijiye. Translation: Nothing is hard if you commit to it. I often tell myself and complain …
Hello again 🙏
I have decided to return to blogging after 5+ years. To use writing as an accountability tool for sitting regularly. To share thoughts, questions, and insights that surface through equanimous observation of sensations. To re-sharpen my writing skills and experience the joy of writing again. Stay tuned. In the meantime, read my past posts here and …
Doubt vs. Confidence vs. Over-Confidence
While doing mathematical problems in school days, I remember feeling over-confident in my abilities after correctly solving a few problems. This over-confidence lead to less alertness, and falling prey to making mistakes problem-after-problem. When starting new projects, doubt steals part of my presence. "Am I good enough?" "Will I ever get this done?" "What if my …
The Art of Dying
The first book I read this year was The Art of Dying and it changed my life. The thing that changed my life before this was sitting my first 10-day Vipassana meditation course four years ago. Art of Dying is a collection of relevant quotes from Buddhist scriptures and Vipassana teachers; some discourses from the …
On Regret & Resolution
(This will be my third and last consecutive post on the subject of my nani's passing. Previous two are available here and here.) I guess I may have a tiny regret -- over the last two or three years, I barely called nani on the phone; I wish I had come up with a solution …
On Grief
(This blog is in continuation of On My Nani's Passing) I never knew how I would really feel after someone emotionally close to me died because I had not experienced this in my 27+ years of life. Now that the seal has been broken, there's much going on at the mental and emotional level. Questions …
On My Nani’s Passing
My nani (maternal grandmother) passed away around this time last week, i.e. Thursday, September 18th afternoon, however we did not take her off life-support until 24 hours after, which only gave the illusion of her still being there. It was a collective decision to wait until other family members arrived so that her last breath …
Background Static
"Awareness and Equanimity are the only measurements along this path," repeated our Dhamma doot (translation: messenger, ambassador), aka S. N. Goenka. I remember hearing the words awareness and equanimity on the speakers every day, multiple times a day during long and short Vipassana meditation courses. Understanding it is still a work in progress. For the most part, …
Practicing Gratitude
Two weeks ago was my last day at my last job. Night before the last day, while meditating, an idea bulb went off in my head - "thank you cards!". I cashed in. I wrote a personalized note for every single person. Most of them I only saw briefly as we changed shifts. But as …
Living Vipassana 